The Houston Texans are coming into Buffalo as a fine tuned machine on offense.  If it is indeed windy in Buffalo then the Texans will keep the passing game to the short stuff and run the ball with Steve Slaton.  Slaton is not having a good season but the Bills’ D has given up 172.4 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry so he should have his best game of the year.  With Andre Johnson gimpy for this game if he plays, look for Matt Schaub to focus on getting the football to Owen Daniels, Kevin Walter and Steve Slaton out of the backfield.  Schaub had better be careful though as the Bills have 13 interceptions already this season.

The Bills will likely come out running the ball with Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson in an attempt to hog the football.  The Texans are allowing 115.6 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per carry so the Bills should have some success on the ground.  While Ryan Fitzpatrick has been getting the ball to Lee Evans he is far from perfect hitting only 44.7% of his passes this season.  If it is windy in Buffalo I just don’t see the Bills putting the ball up much as Fitzgerald’s arm is very weak.

PREDICTION:  TEXANS 20, BILLS 17

The Texans have been very happy with TE Owen Daniels this season.  He has caught 39 passes for 497 yards (12.7 avg) with 5 TD grabs this season so far.  He will be even more important with Andre Johnson know gimpy with a injury.  The scary thing about this week’s game is that safeties generally cover the TE and  the safeties on the Bills have a combined 9 interceptions already this year.  Look for Daniels push for the Pro Bowl this season if he continues to play at this pace.  He leads the Texans in receptions, he’s second in yards and he has the most TD receptions on the team so far this season.  He is turning into Matt Schaub’s go to man when things start to break down and he will be a very busy guy for that reason.

22-year old linebacker Brian Cushing has been dominating as a rookie this season.  Cushing has played in 7 games this season and he has made 56 tackles, has 1/2 a sack, 4 tackles for a loss, 2 forced fumbles, 6 passes defensed and he has 1 interception.  Cushing is proving to be a outstanding pick last April for the Texans as he was picked in the first round out of USC.  The Texans need Cushing to stay healthy and to keep up the good work.

The Houston Texans (4-3) took down the San Francisco 49ers (3-3) Sunday, but nearly blew a 21-0 halftime lead.  Matt Schaub and the Texans offense looked very sharp in the first half, getting three touchdowns.  They did not come out with the same aggressiveness in the second half though, and it almost cost them the game.  The Texans defense did a great job in the first half, holding the 49ers starting quarterback Shaun Hill to 45 yards on 6/11 passes.  Mario Williams and the Texans’ front line did a good job pressuring Hill.  Williams got his third sack of the year on the 49ers first play.  Hill did not look good at all for the 49ers, so they decided to make a change for the second half.  They started Alex Smith after the break, and Smith was able to slice and dice through the Texans’ pass coverage.  Smith brought the 49ers back in the game and had three touchdowns on 206 passing yards and 15/22 attempts.  The Texans’ defense did enough to hold off Smith and 49er’s comeback, as Eugene Wilson intercepted a 4th down desperation pass from Smith late in the game to seal the Texans’ victory.

Schaub had a good game for the Texans, getting two touchdown passes and 264 yards on 20/30 pass attempts.  Both of his touchdown passes came in the first half though, and the Texans turned what should have been a blowout into a very close game.  The only points the Texans got in the second half was a 50-yard Kris Brown FG.  Steve Slaton finished the game with a touchdown and 67 yards on 15 carries (4.5 avg).  Although the Texans got the win, they should be concerned with their lack of ability to hold a lead. They are on the road against the Buffalo Bills next game.

The Houston Texans (3-3) are at home Sunday taking on the San Francisco 49ers (3-2).  The 49ers are coming off a big 45-10 loss to Atlanta, and have lost two of their last three.  They have been without their star running back Frank Gore though, and he will be returning from an ankle injury this week.  The last time Gore was healthy he ran for 207 yards, so the Texans defense will need to be ready to stop the run like they were last week.  They did a great job limiting the NFL’s leading rusher at the time, Cedric Benson.  Benson only got 44 yards on 16 carries (2.75 avg).  The Texans are still giving up an average of 125 rushing yards per game, so Frank Gore may do some damage in this contest.  They also need to be aware of Shaun Hill scrambling since the 49ers’ quarterback rushed for 53 yards last week.

The Texans offense should be able to put some points on the board against this 49ers’ defense.  After a great start to the season, the 49ers defense has slowed down a bit and are prone to giving up some big plays.  Matt Schaub should look to attack them deep since he has found a lot of success doing that lately.  Running back Steve Slaton needs to make sure he holds on to the ball.  He could be considered a good running back if were not for all his fumbles.  He has five already this season and eight in his short two year career.  The Texans coaching staff said stopping Slaton’s fumbles have been a point of emphasis in practice this week, so we will see if it pays off.  I really like the Texans’ passing game and although this will probably be a close game, I think the Texans will win by a touchdown.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Houston Texans 31, San Francisco 49ers 24

The Texans have signed 30-year old linebacker Jamie Winborn.  Winborn played in all 16 games (11 starts) for the Broncos last season and he made 99 tackles, 1/2 a sack and he defensed 11 passes.  He has now played in 92 games (32 starts) in his NFL career and he has made 339 tackles, has 10 sacks, defensed 24 passes, forced 5 fumbles and he has 3 interceptions.  This was a good depth signing for the Texans and he should be able to help out on special teams.

UPDATE:  The Texans have released linebacker Jamie Winborn after only one week in which he did not play.  The Texans have promoted DE Tim Jamison from the practice squad to replace Winborn on the roster.

The Texans did a great job of controlling the clock on offense and their defense made some huge plays to seal this win on the road.  Matt Schaub was outstanding in this game as he completed 28 of 40 passes for 392 yards with 4 TD passes and 1 interception.  Steve Slaton had another hard time running the ball as he had 19 carries for only 43 yards (2.3 ypc) but he did help out in the passing game catching 6 passes for 102 yards (17.0 avg) and a TD.  Chris Brown did run the ball well for the Texans toting the rock 9 times for 45 yards (5.0 ypc).  Andre Johson was outstanding as usual catching 8 passes for 135 yards (16.9 avg).  Owen Daniels was also very good in this game catching 7 passes for 78 yards (11.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  The Texans finished up with 472 yards on offense (87 rushing, 385 passing) as they held onto the football for 36:15 of this game.

The defense committed to stopping the run in this game and it worked out well as the Bengals only rushed for 46 yards on 17 carries (2.7 ypc) in this game.  The Texans also were well aware of Carson Palmer’s comebacks in the 4th quarter but they shut the Bengals out in the 4th quarter to seal this victory.  LB DeMeco Ryans led the way for the Texans in this game with 12 tackles.  Rookie linebacker Brian Cushing was awesome in this game finishing with 9 tackles, 2 passes defensed, 2 forced fumbles and a interception.  Safety Bernard Pollard also had a solid game yesterday as he had 6 tackles and recovered a fumble.  The Bengals finished up with 296 total yards on offense (46 rushing, 250 passing) in this game.  The Texans improve to 3-3 on the season with this very good victory.

This should be a interesting football game on Sunday afternoon.  During even numbered weeks this season the Texans are 2-0 outscoring teams 60-37 while the Bengals have won four games in a row.  The Texans will likely pass first in this game as they are getting very frustrated with the running game.  That means it will be up to Matt Schaub and his receivers to move the ball against the Bengals’ D.  If Schaub has time to throw the ball he will be really effective and that means the O-Line will have to slow down DE Antwan Odom who has 8 sacks this season.  The Bengals are allowing 222.8 yards passing per game this season so they are vulnerable to the passing game.  WRs Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter will stretch the field to give TE Owen Daniels the opportunity to get a lot of room to run the short stuff.  If the Texans get the lead in this game then they will likely get RB Steve Slaton involved in the game to attempt to protect their own defense which is not too good.

The Bengals will come out of the locker room handing the ball to Cedric Benson early and often.  He has 487 yards rushing (4.4 ypc) so far this season and the Texans are allowing 140.8 yards rushing per game and 5.2 yards per carry.  Riding Benson helps the Bengals out two fold as it keeps the clock going and it keeps Texans’ QB Matt Schaub on the bench.  WRs Chad Ocho Cinco and Andre Caldwell will run the short stuff in this game but look out for Chris Henry deep on play action.  Carson Palmer is a closer playing his best ball in the 4th quarter and this game will likely come right down to the end before a winner is crowned.  The Texans give up 222.2 yards passing per game this season so look for Palmer to pull this game out late.

PREDICTION:  BENGALS 30, TEXANS 27

The Houston Texans are only rushing for 75.4 yards per game and 3.0 yards per carry which has put a lot of pressure on QB Matt Schaub who has been outstanding this season.  He has completed 115 of 179 passes (64.2%) for 1,418 yards with 10 TD passes and only 4 INTs (97.9 QB Rating).  Most of that damage was done with #2 WR Kevin Walter out of action but he is back now.  With Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter and Owen Daniels all healthy look for Schaub to continue to dominate as long as his pass blocking holds up.

The Texans have signed 31-year old guard Tutan Reyes.  Reyes is a big guy at 6’3″, 310 pounds and he could get some action as early as this weekend against the Bengals.  He played in 15 games (3 starts) for the Jaguars last season.  He has played 9 years in the NFL appearing in 53 games (37 starts).  This might just be a band aid for the interior of the offensive line but it can’t hurt to bring a guy like Reyes in.  The Texans released 25-year old outside linebacker Buster Davis to make room on the roster for Reyes.